The Tale of Isis
by Wavie
Summary: Isis gets sold into slavery and ends up in the palace kitchen. But she has a gift, what will happen to her once it is discovered? And what will the consequenses be? Pleashipping
1. The Arrival to the Palace

_I've been thinking about this story for long and have finally decided to write it down and post it here. I simply thank that there are way too little Mahad/Isis stories out there, I mean this couple is way more realistic than Seto/Isis (no offence to those who like that couple, I myself am a reader for such stories), and there are only about seven stories about them. So now I'm going to do something about it. Behold, my second Mahad/Isis story._

_

* * *

_**Chapter One – The Arrival to the Palace**

Isis cast a longing glance at her home that now slowly faded into the horizon as she was led away.

A tear slid down her cheek as she watched her family's house merge with the rest of the village.

What had happened was that a couple of travelers had come to her village and had asked for shelter for the night and her father had agreed to let them sleep at their family's.

And from that point on things had gone out bad for her.

Her father was a poor fisherman and feeding the family was bad enough, now they would have to feed the travelers too. Sadly that meant that she and her little brother were sent to bed without dinner because there wasn't enough food for all of them. And she had to comfort her brother, who cried in hunger when they went to bed. When her brother had fallen asleep she had put him to bed and gone to bed herself but she hadn't been able to fall asleep because of her curiosity for the traveling strangers that were guests in her family's house.

So she had just lay still in bed and listened to the conversation that went on in the other room. She could clearly hear the conversation going on between the grownups. First the weather was the topic but it quickly changed into politics and suddenly, she didn't know how it had come up, she was the subject being discussed. And somehow it was revealed that the two travelers were slave traders who were on the verge of losing everything because they were out of slaves and almost out of money. How her father had been talked into selling her she didn't know and she didn't care either, if she was to be honest with herself, what mattered most was how she was going to get out of this mess, and besides, her father's reasons weren't that hard to guess, she wasn't normal, sometimes she would freeze in place and see things, strange things, and she knew that her father was ashamed of her, and he would tell her so when they got home after a trip to the market where people had seen her freeze.

She wondered what her mother would have said if she had been alive. What would she have thought of this? And how was her brother? Was he all right? And who would do the cleaning of the house now when she was gone?

Well, she thought as another tear slipped down her cheek, she would never know because she would never come back home, she was no longer free to do what she wanted, she was no longer her own mistress, she was now a slave.

Oh, how could her own father do this to her?

* * *

When Ra had once again passed into the afterlife and left the sky dark with shining stars looking down at her she was exhausted. She had walked all day and several times she wasn't sure how much more she could take before the effort would kill her.

"Alright I think it's time to rest for the night," one of the slave traders said and dismounted his horse. The other slave trader groaned in agreement and copied the actions of his partner and dismounted his horse.

The relief that Isis felt when she heard them was so great that she didn't recall to ever having been more relieved than at the moment and she felt herself fall down on her hands and knees and panted.

"Tired aren't we?"

Isis barely managed to look up. One of the slave traders had gone over to her.

She didn't know if it was a rhetorical question or if she was even permitted to speak, she knew by seeing them stand in rows at the market some times that slaves rarely spoke to their master, she saw them look at each other, casting lost glances of unhappiness but never did she hear them speak. So she decided to stay silent.

It looked like she had been right about not speaking because the slave trader only smiled and went back to his horse. "You should get some rest, there's a lot of distance to travel tomorrow".

Isis whimpered, but not loud enough for the men to hear it. She hugged her upper body tight to get a little warmth and curled into a ball on the sand ground. This was going to be a tough night, she was freezing, she was exhausted, alone and betrayed, the only comfort was that at the moment she could rest instead of pushing her legs to keep walking non-stop for a whole day.

"Here," she heard a voice say and she felt fabric hit her body and she pulled it off to look at it. It was a blanket, and a nicely thick one at that. One of the slave traders had thrown her a blanket. Why would he do that? She was only a slave now, so why would she be treated like this? Why were they being so kind to her? She had not received one single slap nor kick or any other form of physical abuse since she left her home, wasn't that unusual for a slave? She remembered seeing slaves with bruises and cuts, and sometimes-even blood, on their bodies and most of them were pretty skinny from lack of food, so why was she treated differently?

Still unsure about speaking she just thought the words 'thank you' and put the blanket tightly around her shivering body.

She wondered how her brother and father were doing. She hoped that they were doing well without her and she hoped that her brother wouldn't feel too lonely when her father would go to work; she hoped that he would take his son with him. She already missed them and she let a tear escape from her eyes as she reminded herself that she would never see either of them again.

* * *

Isis woke up when she felt someone taking the blanket off her and she blinked her eyes open and stared right up at the sun that cast its golden rays of heat down on the desert sands.

She moaned tiredly and stretched her arms. Suddenly she let out a yelp of surprise when she took a good look at her surroundings. It took a little while before she remembered yesterday's events and to stop asking herself why she wasn't in her bed. When realization dawned upon her she looked down at her chained feet and sighed with longing. She wished that she could hug her little brother, that was what she would usually do when she felt sad, not saying he was some kind of toy to her, he was just the only one who was really there to comfort her when she needed it, her mother died after giving birth to her brother, she was only five back then, now, five years later her brother was the one who was closest to her, because her father had never been there for her, not ever.

Isis brushed a tear away from her face quickly.

"Good to see you're up," a voice said.

She turned her head in the direction of the voice and caught sight of one of the slave traders. She looked at him expectantly.

"Did you get enough rest last night?" the slave trader asked.

She stayed quiet. Thinking that the slave trader was just being rhetorical.

"Well?"

"Y-yes sir," she replied hesitantly, still afraid that speaking to her new master was a mistake.

"Good," the slave trader said, "we still have some distance to travel today". He tossed her a piece of bred. "Eat up," he commanded, "you'll need some strength".

She nodded and bit into the bred hungrily. She thought that apparently not all slave owners were treating their slaves badly. She thought herself to be very lucky at the moment, well as lucky as a slave could be.

* * *

They traveled for hours non-stop and Isis was getting tired in her legs but she ignored the ache in her ankles, wanting to be good for her new masters, or all she really wanted was avoiding abuse.

"At this pace we'll reach the capital by nightfall," one of the slave traders said a couple of hours later.

Isis felt both relieved and frightened. She was relieved because she was unsure of how much more she could walk before her legs would give under her. But she didn't like thinking about what might happen to her once she got to the capital, that was without doubt where the traders wanted to sell her and she didn't know to whom. She felt a small shiver down her spine as she thought of it, what if her new owner would abuse her or worse? Would she be forced to work away her energy for the rest of her life, which she didn't know how long would be.

* * *

When the sun had left the sky and had gotten replaced by the moon Isis noticed that they were on a hill, and from it she could see many sand-colored buildings below. That must be the capital, she thought. And right she was. She spotted a building that was much larger and much better looking than the others. She figured that it had to be the Pharaoh's palace, she remembered her parents telling her about it. The palace was the biggest building in Egypt; it was where the Pharaoh and the sacred court lived. She couldn't believe that she was actually able to look at it now, it was amazing.

The slave traders decided to camp on the hill and go to the city the next day. Isis agreed with them, though she didn't tell them, being careful about speaking to any of the men, she had not spoken a word since that morning. She was given some bred and water that she hungrily and thirstily devoured. After that she was again given a blanket and she curled herself into a ball and held the blanket tightly around her to keep the cold out. She fell asleep rather quickly.

* * *

Isis woke up the next morning feeling the sun's golden rays being cast down on her and she sighed in delight as she noticed that the daily heat had returned. Her mood dropped as she realized what was in store for her today and hence she wanted to keep sleeping for a while longer but she didn't dare, afraid to upset the slave traders so she sat up and turned to look at the slave traders and their horses. One of them was watering the horses while the other one was packing the saddlebags.

She took the blanket off her and went to just stare at her temporary masters because she was afraid to do anything without being told to.

When the slave trader, who was watering the horses was done he turned to look at her.

"Good you're up, we'll head for the city in a moment, give Hadar your blanket and we'll leave".

Isis nodded and took the blanket and went over to the other slave trader with it.

Hadar, who was about to close the saddlebag glared at her and took the blanket from her. "You could have given it to me sooner," he snapped and opened the saddlebag to find room for the blanket.

Isis walked back to the other trader, afraid that Hadar would hit her if she didn't get out of his sight quickly. She had immediately noticed that the two slave traders were different in attitude, Hadar was unkind and unfriendly while the other trader, which she had not yet learned the name of, gave her food and water and a blanket to sleep under at night, he was kind to her and didn't treat her as a slave, except for the chains around her ankles, but she remembered the regretful look on his face when he chained her. Neither of the two abused her but she had a feeling that Hadar might have wanted to but was prevented from doing so, maybe by his partner.

She looked down on the city, it was way bigger than her village, part of her was getting anxious to explore it but the other part of her feared going there, she didn't want to be sold on a market as a slave.

Someone behind her cleared his throat. She gasped and turned her head to look at the friendly trader. "We are ready to leave".

She nodded and followed him to the horses.

* * *

The city felt even bigger from the inside and Isis, even though frightened by its size, looked at her surroundings curiously as she walked. The city also seemed to have more population than her village.

She watched with curious eyes as people walked past her with bags and baskets filled with stuff bought at the market, a couple of people glared at her without reason.

She was amazed by the shops on the market that was way bigger than the one in her village, here it was filling an entire street while in her village you could only buy food and drinks and a couple of other small things, if one needed anything else one would have to travel to another village to get it.

"I think I see the slave market over there," Hadar murmured to his partner and Isis gulped, having been so occupied with the surroundings that she had forgotten what they were actually doing here.

She saw the other slave trader nod.

Isis looked down at her chained feet and focused her gaze on the ground for the rest of the walk. She looked up when the men had stopped and looked into the direction they were looking in. She shivered as she saw the people, wearing nothing but rags, standing in line.

Suddenly her vision went black and then she saw herself standing in line with the other slaves with a wooden sign around her neck with hieroglyphics written on it. A man walked over to her and traced the sign with his fingers before gripping her wrists to get a closer look at her hands. After letting go he turned his head to someone and nodded.

"Why did you stop? Keep moving, child," Hadar said and pushed her forward with a force that almost made her fall forward. Isis nodded and walked forward slowly in shock. She just saw something again. But this time it had been different, this time she saw herself, which had never occurred before, she had only seen other people, often strangers or people she knew, though by appearance and not name. This time she had seen herself, standing between the other slaves and being looked at by costumers and then sold to a man. What was wrong with her?

"Here we are," Hadar said. There was a fraction of relief in his voice and Isis thought that he was relieved to have finally made it to the slave market after the tiring journey.

She didn't know how long she had been standing in line before a wooden sign was put around her neck but she didn't care either, in a way she just wanted to get this over with. She didn't even move her head to look at the other slaves as she was pushed in line between two men.

Standing there was horrible, there were lots of costumers who kept coming and leaving and they all looked at her and the others like they were just items, tools for them to use and tread as they pleased.

She cast occasional glances at the slave traders, who were standing not far away from her. A man came over to them and they exchanged a few words that Isis didn't hear. Then the man went over to her and examined her with his gaze before tracing the wooden prize sign around her neck with his fingers. He grabbed her wrists to examine her hands. "Hm," he murmured to himself. "Her hands show that she does have experience with working, she would fit well in the kitchen". Isis shivered; it was just like her vision.

The man turned his head to the slave traders and nodded. "I'll take this girl".

The man paid the slave traders some coins before taking a rope from his belt and tying her hands with it. If Isis was to be honest the rope wasn't necessary, she wouldn't dare to escape, she was too scared to disobey anyone, well knowing that it would never end good if she tried. She let the man drag her with him.

After about ten minutes of walking the man stopped outside a big majestic building. Isis looked up at it in amazement. It was the biggest building that she had ever seen. She noticed that some men were blocking the entrance. They were strangely dressed; they were wearing headgears made of white cloth along with white kilts and nothing more. They were also armed with long sticks with pointy pieces of rock attached to the ends.

The man raised his hand and the men moved away to make room for them. The big gates were opened and they made their way through them. They were now standing in an enormous garden, the biggest garden that Isis had ever seen. She stopped to look around and admire the beauty of all the plants and pillars and she lost herself in how beautiful it all was and hence she gasped in surprise when the man dragged her along, almost causing her to trip over her own feet.

From the garden she was dragged through a corridor. The walls were made of fine bricks and Isis thought it to be amazing that she was going to be in such a fine and beautiful house.

As she walked with the man through various corridors and rooms she saw people walking past them, all of them wearing white clothes and carrying jars, bowls with fruit and all kinds of other stuff. Isis was eyeing each person curiously, wondering who they were and what their business was, if they were slaves or if they were the owners of this big house or guests.

Finally the man stopped outside a wooden door. He took a hold of the knob and opened the door.

"I've brought another slave to assist you, Beset," he said. He was given some kind of reply that Isis didn't hear.

"Get in there, girl," the man ordered, his voice being anything but friendly.

Isis obeyed and walked through the door. She heard the door being slammed shut behind her.

"So," a voice said, "you are the new kitchen girl?"

Isis looked at the person who had spoken. It was an elderly woman, about fifty years of age with black hair that was gray at the roots.

"I-it app-pears so, ma'am," Isis said hesitantly.

"Do you know how to cook?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Isis said, "I used to cook supper for my father and little brother.

"How old are you, child?"

"I'm ten years old," Isis replied.

The older woman looked surprised for a moment. "And what is your name?"

"Isis".

"Well Isis, I am Beset and I am the one cooking the Pharaoh's meal," the elderly woman said.

"Pharaoh?" Isis asked, not being able to contain herself.

"Yes, this is where the Pharaoh lives, this is his palace," the woman, now identified as Beset said.

Isis was amazed; she was actually working in the Pharaoh's palace? She wondered what her family would say if they knew.

"So Isis," Beset said, snapping the little girl out of her thoughts, "it appears that we will be working together now, you can start with peeling those potatoes," she gestured towards a bowl with potatoes on one of the tables.

"Ehm, Beset?"

"What is it child?"

Isis held up her tied wrists.

"Oh, I see, Khaddar can be forgetful some times," Beset said and helped Isis untie her wrists so that she could use her hands again.

Isis thanked the woman and massaged her wrists that were all red from the tight robe and then untied the rope around her ankles.

"Here," Beset said, handing her a knife, "now get to work".

* * *

_Comments are very much apreciated._


	2. A Guest in the Kitchen

**Chapter Two – A Guest in the Kitchen**

Twelve-year-old Isis was standing in the kitchen, cutting some meat that was to be served to the court for dinner, she had now been working in the palace kitchen for two years and she was actually feeling at home, in despite of being a slave she was not abused nor yelled at and the labor wasn't very hard, she found herself lucky to be working in the kitchen.

"You done?" Beset asked as she came rushing into the kitchen to her.

"Almost," Isis answered, as she cut the last pieces.

"Hurry up child, the court is supposed to dine in fifteen minutes".

"I'm done," the twelve-year-old announced and Beset took the newly cut slices of meat and arranged them on a fine plate. "I'll take the meat and you take the grapes," Beset ordered. Isis nodded and took the bowl with grapes from the kitchen table and went after the old woman out of the kitchen.

Isis loved carrying food to the dinner table; it gave her a chance to see what was going on outside the kitchen. She wondered how being a noble was and she thought that she wouldn't mind trying it. Sometimes she even caught a glance at one of the nobles, it wasn't very often but when it happened Isis grew exited, when she had just been a village girl (thought one could hardly say that as a slave she had gained a higher rank, even though it was in the palace) she had never even dreamed that she would get this close to a noble.

Isis never really thought of herself as a slave, working in the kitchen didn't feel like slavery, in her own eyes she was just a servant in the Pharaoh's palace.

When she returned to the kitchen she sat down on a chair to relax. She knew that while the court dined there was no work to do, not before they were finished eating when the table would need to be cleared. Isis always used this little break to relax and rest, because after the court was done with eating dinner it was up to the servants to clear the table and wash the dishes and the knives and the forks. And when they were finished with that they would begin to work on the supper. Yes, that was how the day was for a kitchen servant (or slave in Isis's case).

The twelve-year-old sighed and leaned back in her chair.

* * *

_Isis found herself surrounded by darkness. She looked around desperately for a hole in the darkness but no matter how many times she turned, lowered and raised her gaze all her eyes found was blackness. She opened her mouth to yell for help but no sound escaped her lips. But yet five figures emerged from the shadows, five boys to be precise. Two of them had brown hair that reached their shoulders, two of them were bald and one, the youngest among them, had black spiky hair with blonde bangs that fell down and covered parts of his face._

_"Can you help me?" she asked the boys, feeling slightly more comforted now that she wasn't alone in the darkness._

_None of the boys answered her. She tried to approach them but no matter how she kept walking forwards the distance between them remained the same, but yet the boys didn't move any muscle._

_"Hello?" Isis tried again. But the result was no different from the first time._

_Suddenly one of the boys took a step forwards. It was one of those with brown hair. Isis studied the boy. His shoulder-long hair was well kept and so was his fringe that was kept completely straight. His eyes had the color of a blue salty ocean and yet they had a mysterious but warm depth._

_Isis made another attempt to speak too him but the boy said nothing in response, though he kept looking at her. To Isis it felt like his ocean blue eyes were looking right through her sapphire ones and into her very soul. Confused Isis stared right back into his eyes. A weak smile appeared on the boy's face before he suddenly vanished into the darkness from where he had come. Isis thought that she felt her heart shatter into small pieces and her hands flew up to her aching chest. Then she turned to look at the other boys. One by one they vanished. First the two bald ones disappeared, and then the young boy. The last boy who remained was the second brunette. The boy smirked mysteriously before he too disappeared into the shadows._

_

* * *

_"Child, wake up!"

Isis moaned and slowly opened her eyes when she felt someone shaking her shoulders roughly.

"Isis get back to the real world," a woman's voice shouted harshly.

"Huh?"

"Isis!"

"B-be-beset?" Isis murmured.

"Yes child, it's me," the woman said, "what in the world is wrong with you?"

"I don't know," Isis said, "I think I fell asleep". She wiped some sweat off her forehead. She did know what was wrong with her, she had discovered that one year ago, she could do something no one else could, she had been able to do it her whole life she just hadn't known it back then. She could see the future. Sometimes visions would come to her in the form of dreams while she slept, at other times they would come at day and she would freeze and her vision would turn black before getting bright again and she would see what was to happen in the future. That dream was such a vision, but to her it made no sense, it confused her, it could have been just a normal dream, some trick from her mind.

But all this she couldn't tell Beset, she would not believe her and she would think her crazy and then she would get punished for telling lies, no matter how hard she would try to convince her otherwise. Pretending that she had just had a nightmare was the best thing to do.

Beset grunted. "You have five minutes, then get back to work".

"Yes Beset," Isis said.

Isis wiped the rest of her sweat away with her sleeve and took a deep breath and let the air out. She wondered if this dream of hers meant anything. So many questions were rolling through her mind. Was it some kind of vision that she had just now or was it merely a trivial dream (she couldn't really call it a nightmare, even though she thought it to be close to one)? If it was not just a dream then what did it mean? And who were the boys that she had seen?

The twelve-year-old sighed. Why bother to ask herself these things? She would never find an answer anyway, it was impossible.

* * *

"You've hardly touched your food, child," Beset commented as the kitchen servants had their evening meal, which actually was just leftovers from the court's dinner (though they were not permitted to eat the fruit since it could be saved for some other time and it was thought by some that giving it to slaves and servants was a waste). Isis had a plate of cold meat in front of her but her fork lay untouched beside it.

"Pardon me Beset, but I am not hungry," Isis replied.

"Well if you don't eat then you will not be able to fall asleep and then you will not have much strength for tomorrow either".

"I know," Isis murmured, "but I have no desire for food, I feel like I cannot get a bite down".

Beset sighed. "It is your choice child," she said, "but don't come whining to me tomorrow when you feel tired and hungry".

Isis nodded.

Beset reached for her plate and placed it in front of herself on the table and stuck her own fork into the meat.

* * *

That night Isis lay awake for a long time thinking about her previous dream. Even though she had promised herself to forget about it and stop tiring herself with it she just couldn't get it out of her head. She had an odd feeling that that dream wasn't normal; it had something to do with her 'gift' (Isis liked to think of it as such to prevent herself from considering herself a freak). Her dream had felt way too real to be ordinary and trivial, it definitely meant something and when she saw the boys disappear in front of her she had felt the pain in her heart, it couldn't be just a normal dream.

It wasn't before she had been lying awake, thinking, for hours that she finally fell asleep.

* * *

Isis was surprised and relieved when she woke up at dawn the next morning. She had been afraid that she would be disturbed by more dream visions at night but to her relief she had had a peaceful dreamless sleep.

Even though there was still an hour before she would be required in the kitchen she decided to go anyway, maybe she could get some early breakfast (leftovers from the court's supper)

Being cautious and making sure not to wake any of the other slaves she made her way out of the room. She made sure to walk as quiet as possible as she approached the kitchen, she didn't want to be caught making noises so early in the morning.

When she reached the kitchen the door was slightly opened. Perhaps someone else had gotten the same idea as she and had decided to start the day early. That thought made her comfortable, she was glad that she wouldn't have to be alone for the next hour.

Suddenly her vision went black and she reached for the wall for support. As her vision went brighter she saw a pair of blue eyes staring at her.

She gasped when she got her vision back and she raised a hand to her chest, breathing in and out slowly. She hated getting visions so suddenly. But what was this that she had just seen? All she saw was a pair of blue eyes. But those eyes were familiar but at the moment she couldn't quite recall where she had seen them before.

After a moment she continued on her way and slowly and carefully, trying not to make too much noise, she pushed the wooden door completely open and then quickly shut it again.

She turned to look for anyone else and she gasped when she saw someone bending down over the food shelves in the corner of the room.

"Good morning," she said.

The person in the corner gave a jump at her greeting and turned around to look at her in shock.

Isis too was shocked. The person was a boy that she had never seen before, he couldn't be working in the kitchen, unless of course he was completely new and she doubted that, then he wouldn't bent down over the food like that.

"G-good morning," the boy, who was about her age, stuttered, shock still displayed on his face.

"You're not a kitchen servant, are you?" Isis said suspiciously.

"No," the boy admitted. "I am sorry for intruding, I know I shouldn't be here, but my friend was hungry and he didn't have the energy to fetch the food himself so I…"

"I see, so you offered to fetch the food yourself" Isis finished for him and the boy nodded.

"Well that is very kind of you, your friend must be grateful to have someone like you".

The boy blushed a little. "What's your name?" he asked.

Isis sighed. Should she tell this stranger her name? He wasn't even a kitchen servant so he wouldn't actually need to know it.

"I'm sorry," the boy said, "it is inappropriate of me to ask of your name when I have not told you mine first. My name is Mahad".

The corners of her lips curved upwards. This boy was very polite, it would be very rude now not to tell him her name.

"I am Isis," she told the boy.

"Isis," Mahad murmured, tasting her name. "You are named after a goddess".

"Yes," Isis said, blushing a little, she had never liked that fact and why she was named thus was beyond her.

"It suits you".

Isis gasped. Had he just given her a compliment? Her blush got even redder, though her tan Egyptian skin made it easier to hide it.

"So, what is your business in the kitchen, "Mahad asked, "if you don't mind me asking," he added politely.

"That is alright," Isis said, "after all you told me yours".

"Yes, and I would appreciate it if you would not tell anyone about this".

Isis nodded. "Don't worry, I will not tell anyone," she promised. "And I work here," she added, answering his previous question.

Mahad gaped. "I am really sorry you had to find me here, if you want it I can leave without the food and tell my friend that he will have to wait for breakfast".

"No, you shouldn't let your friend wait, breakfast is in three hours if I am not mistaking," Isis told him.

"Thank you, I really appreciate this, I'll let my friend know who saved him from starving".

Isis chuckled and so did Mahad.

Isis took in his appearance. His brown hair had a light color and it reached his shoulders and he had a straight fringe. His clothes were white and clean, meaning that he wasn't a slave, Isis wondered if he was even a servant but she was afraid to ask.

What caught her attention the most were his eyes. They were as blue as the ocean and they were warm and deep, she felt like she could get lost in them if she kept looking. They were familiar. Actually it wasn't just the eyes that were familiar to her, everything about him was familiar somehow, but Isis didn't remember meeting him before so why did she think that she had seen him before?

"I promise I will not take much, just a little fruit, that should be good enough for Karim," Mahad said, walking over to the fruit shelve.

Isis nodded, having stopped staring at him. "I recommend the grapes, they are the freshest".

"Thank you. Isis".

Isis nodded. She looked away when she felt her cheeks grow hot. She liked the way he said her name, it actually made her like her name now. And by the way he was saying it he liked it too.

Mahad walked over to her with some grapes in his arms. "Thank you for your kindness, I really appreciate it".

"Don't thank me," Isis replied, "food is meant to be eaten when you're hungry.

"You are right," Mahad answered, chuckling. He turned around and went towards the door. He opened it and turned to glance at Isis one last time. "And tell the cooks that the food is delicious," he said before disappearing through the door and quickly shutting it.

* * *

_I hope that this chapter was satisfying. Please review._


	3. The Snake in the Pot

_Yes, I know, the update was quick, I guess I couldn't get enough of typing yesterday. But I'm glad that I managed to pul a decent chapter in such a short amount of time. I hope you like it._

* * *

**Chapter Three – The Snake in the Pot**

When Isis went to bed that night it again took her hours to fall asleep. She was busy thinking of Mahad. She was certain that she had seen him before this morning but she had no idea where.

She wondered who he was. She had never seen him in the palace before, she wondered if he was a new servant or a noble. She hoped that he was a servant, then there would perhaps be a chance that she could see him again, it would be nice to have someone to talk to, like a friend. Isis had not had many friends back in her birth village. All the other children thought that she was weird, a freak, because she kept freezing and receiving visions. The only one who had really been kind to her was her little brother. Isis wondered how he was doing alone with their father. She hoped that their father wasn't being too hard on him.

The last thing she thought about before she drifted off to sleep was Mahad.

That night Isis had another dream that was very similar to the one she had had at day the previous day. When she woke up the next morning she was in shock. But now she remembered where she had seen Mahad before. He was one of the boys from her dream.

But that still didn't get her any closer to finding out what that dream meant.

When Isis opened the door to the kitchen she saw that most of the kitchen workers were already there, including Beset, who was in the middle of the cooking.

"Good morning Beset," the girl said as she approached the old woman.

"Good to see you finally up child," Beset answered.

"What do you mean?" Isis asked, confused.

"Child it is an hour since we started working," Beset answered.

"Oh". Isis hadn't really paid attention to the time; she had just woken up. "I am sorry, I didn't sleep well last night".

"Just peel the oranges," said Beset and turned her attention back to her cooking.

Isis nodded, even though she knew that Beset couldn't see it, and went to the food shelves to find some oranges. She noticed that there were no grapes and she couldn't help but smile. She hoped that Mahad's friend enjoyed his early breakfast.

When she had peeled the oranges she arranged them in little pieces on a plate. She inhaled the wonderful scent of them. She felt an urge to take a piece into her mouth. Oranges were so juicy, sweet and healthy. It was rare that she got the opportunity to taste them, because it was not often that there were any left after the court had dined. She couldn't blame them, oranges were delicious.

"Isis, are you done?" Beset asked.

"Yes," Isis answered, taking the plate, and walked over to the old woman.

"Good, you carry those oranges to the dining hall and then come back for the dates".

"Yes Beset," Isis said and made her way out of the kitchen.

The kitchen was not exactly near the dinning hall but Isis didn't mind, not when she was only carrying something light. She liked the walk from the kitchen to the dinning hall, it gave her a chance to stretch her legs and see things.

When she entered the dining hall there wasn't a soul. But some trays and plates were already set on the table so she figured that the other servants had already been there and would be back any moment.

The dinning hall was magnificent; it was big with a long table, several meters long. But there were only about fourteen plates because the only ones dinning would be the court, when there was thrown a feast or on special occasions when guests would arrive there would of course be more people dining but at the moment only the Pharaoh's court would eat in this hall and hence the plates were spread all alongside the table. Isis didn't understand why the court members were always sitting so far away from each other, but she didn't really care that much, it had nothing to do with her.

She placed the oranges on the table and headed back to the kitchen.

When she came back after having placed the dates on the table as well she settled in a wooden chair. She was happy to relax again and she would not miss one moment of her relaxation, because she knew that she would need it to last through the day.

To her relief she did not fall asleep during her break and neither did she get any visions.

When Isis and some other servants went to clear the courts table Isis was thrilled to see that a few pieces of orange were left and she immediately took all of them and stuffed them into her mouth greedily. She was glad no one saw it.

After that she helped some of the other servants with the dishes and forks and knives. She had gotten used to this kind of work over the past two years so hence she did no longer think too much about how little she wanted to do it, it was her job, she was a slave and she would carry out the orders that she had been given. It was nice not to be treated as a slave but instead a regular servant, though she still slept with the other slaves at night.

After the dishes were washed it was time to start on the supper. Isis was mostly getting the easy tasks because of her young age, like cutting meat, getting the fruit and such, the actual cooking was left to Beset and a few other servants.

About two hours later the smell of duck lingered in the entire room. Isis thought it to be a nice smell, she had never tasted duck meat when it was warm and the taste of it cold made her want to taste it when it was fresh and warm. She went over to Beset with a bowl of dates for the duck, that's he was told made the meat taste even better. The old woman was talking to one of the servants and Isis caught a part of their conversation. She heard Beset asking a young man if he knew what had become of the grapes. That question made Isis smile and she barely managed to hold back a giggle.

But she was also a little frustrated. It had taken her some time and some duties to get her mind off Mahad but now her thoughts wandered back to him. She was still curious about his connection to her dream but she was trying to forget it, she wouldn't be able to find an answer to her questions anyway.

Another two hours later the supper was ready and Isis was sent to carry some dates to the dinning hall.

When she was halfway there her vision suddenly darkened and she quickly made her way to one of the walls to prevent herself from dropping the dates.

* * *

_Mahad was making his way through the corridor when suddenly one of the giant pots near the wall was moving and the brunette went to it curiously and lowered his hand down into it. Something made him jump in surprise hand he quickly took his arm out of the pot and looked at his hand. He had a fresh wound on it. In shock he accidentally knocked the pot over and it shattered when it reached the floor. A snake was revealed on the floor._

_

* * *

_Isis gasped in shock. She had just seen Mahad. She quickly moved away from the wall and continued on her way.

When she had almost reached the dinning hall she heard she heard a strange sound that was followed by a gasp.

Quickly, without hesitation, she ran into the direction of the sound. It wasn't far away and she quickly found the source of the noise. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a person reaching down in a giant pot. It was a person that she knew.

"No don't!" she yelled.

But it was too late. She heard Mahad gasp in pain and the brunette quickly pulled his arm out of the pot and accidentally knocked the pot over.

"Are you alright?" she yelled with worry.

Mahad gasped in shock and as she had expected he accidentally pushed the pot and caused it to fall over, revealing a snake as it shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Without hesitation she ran over to him, dropping her dates in the process.

"Who… Isis?" Mahad asked in disbelief.

"It's me," Isis said. "Are you alright?"

Mahad looked at his wound and covered it with his other hand and murmured some strange words and when he removed his hand Isis saw no wound. "Yes I am," he replied.

"How did you do that?" Isis asked in shock.

"Healing spells are quite simple when you first get the hang of it," Mahad answered.

"You can use magic?"

Mahad nodded. "I am a magician in training".

"So, you are no servant then?" Isis asked, though she wasn't really surprised, she had had a suspicion.

"I am a servant," Mahad replied, "but not one like you, "I am trained to protect the King of Egypt, when my master retires I will become a Priest in his place".

"But, that means that you are a member of the court then," Isis said in shock. Mahad shook his head. "Not yet, but I will be".

"I see," Isis said. "I'm sorry".

"For what?" Mahad asked, confused.

"For not being here earlier".

"What do you mean?" Mahad asked, now even more confused.

"I tried to stop you but by the time I arrived the snake had already bitten you".

"You knew the snake was inside the pot?" Mahad asked her in disbelief.

Isis nodded.

"How could you?" Mahad asked.

"I…" Isis lowered her head. She shouldn't have told him. Now she would have to reveal her power to him and he would avoid her, and think of her as a freak.

"Well?" Mahad said impatiently. Something in the tone he was using made him sound suspicious, but who wouldn't react like that? Mahad might think now that she was the one who put the snake down in the pot in the first place.

"I can see the future," Isis admitted, her head still lowered.

"You can see the future?" Mahad repeated, almost with no emotion at all, and that made Isis uncomfortable.

Suddenly she felt a hand under her chin and she didn't fight it when her head was pulled upwards. She looked deep into Mahad's ocean eyes and Mahad was gazing right back into her sapphire ones.

A moment later he let go of her chin and broke their eye contact.

"I believe you," he said. "And if you saw me getting bit by the snake then there was nothing you could have done anyway, the future cannot change".

Isis was relieved but still nervous. Would he think her a freak now?

"Amazing," he said. "I only know of one other person with the same gift as you".

Isis was shocked. That was not the reaction she had expected. But it was nice to know that he didn't resent her power, he had called it a gift.

"How long have you been able to do that?" Mahad asked her.

"My whole life, I think," Isis replied, "but I only noticed it about a year ago".

"I see," said Mahad. "It's interesting. I wonder how Meskhenet will react when she finds out that someone with her own power works in the palace".

"Please don't tell anyone about this," Isis pleaded.

"Why?" Mahad asked.

"If anyone found out I would most likely be thrown out".

"What makes you think that?" Mahad asked, shocked.

Isis sighed and started telling Mahad about how people in her village had treated her when they found out she was different".

"Oh, I see now," said Mahad, "don't worry it's not like that in the palace, the entire court is different, you just saw what I did thanks to my own powers".

Isis nodded. "But do you have to tell anyone?"

Mahad smiled. "No, and do not worry, your secret is safe with me".

"Thank you," Isis said.

"Let us say I am repaying you for yesterday," he said softly.

Isis smiled. "That was nothing, I assume that you dine with the court?"

Mahad nodded. "Yes and like I said yesterday the food is delicious".

"Well thank you, I shall pass on the compliments to the cook".

Suddenly Isis gasped.

"What is it?" asked Mahad.

"I completely forgot," she said. "I was on my way to the dinning hall with dates". She looked around and spotted the wooden bowl and the dates that now lay on the floor. "Oh I'm sorry I dropped them, I… never mind, I better get going before it's too late". She lowered herself down on her knees and took the bowl and began to pick up the dates to put them back in the bowl. When she had picked up all the dates she rose to her feet and faced Mahad. "I must be going, I would not keep you waiting for your supper".

"Nonsense, the fault is mine, I should have been more careful".

Isis said nothing in response.

"Do you mind if I accompany you to the hall?"

Isis shook her head. "You can do whatever you want, I am just a slave, it is not in my power to stop you if that is what you want.

Mahad was silent for a moment then he smiled and said, "Good because I want to walk with you, I have nothing to do anyway and getting early for supper is not a bad thing".

Isis just nodded, not knowing what else to say or do.

* * *

_Rememeber to submit a review._


	4. Facing the Court

_Sorry for the long wait, I had trouble finishing this chapter, and maybe I was too lazy to try, also. But now the chapter's here and I hope you like it. I know I do, well I'm satisfied at least._

_

* * *

_**Chapter Four – Facing the Court**

It had been almost three weeks since the snake incident and Isis had barely seen Mahad anywhere. She assumed he was busy. He was to be in the Pharaoh's court after all, surely he had more important matters than spending time with her, a mere slave. But Isis was still saddened by his absence, it was so boring without Mahad around, though she had a lot to do and was pretty busy herself, but she missed conversing and walking with him. Maybe it was because of her ability. Maybe he was like the others who wanted nothing to do with her once they discovered what she was capable of. But a part of her didn't think that it was the reason for his absence, after all he had seemed pretty interested in her ability, had even called it a gift, there had to be some other reason why she hadn't seen him.

Isis had to remind herself that what Mahad did and why he was too busy to greet her was not her business, he was practically a court member and hence what kept him busy was not something she needed to know or worry about.

One afternoon Isis was washing dishes along with a couple of other kitchen workers. She placed the newly washed dish on top of the neat pile next to the sink for someone else to dry and was about to take another dish when someone roughly opened the kitchen door. It was a tall muscular man dressed in white and with a weapon in one of his hands.

"Which one of you is Isis?" the man asked. His tone was not really friendly.

Isis gulped. What had she done?

Beset grabbed her arm and pulled her forth to face the man. "This is her," she said, "what do you want with her?"

"That I haven't been told," the man said, "but it is hardly any of your business is it?" he said coldly.

Beset glared at the man. Isis thought it to be good that the man was no longer looking at her; luckily he hadn't seen her glare.

"Hand over the girl," the man demanded. His demand made Isis shiver in fear. What was he going to do to her?

Beset sighed and released Isis's arm, not taking her gaze away from the girl.

"Come along girl," the man said in a harsh tone.

Isis looked at Beset, who nodded sadly. The old woman smiled, telling her that it would be all right, but even though Isis trusted the woman, who had been like a mother to her the last couple of years, it still didn't ease her worries.

She gave a cry in surprise when she felt herself being pulled out of the kitchen, and the last thing she saw before the wooden door was closed was Beset's unhappy face.

A small tear slid down the girl's face as she was led away from the kitchen. What was going to happen to her now? She looked down on her own feet, not daring to look at the man, she was too afraid to do so. Isis didn't even notice where the man was taking her; at the moment she was so afraid that it didn't matter where she would end up.

A couple of minutes later Isis noticed that the man had stopped. But she was afraid to look up and take in their surroundings, at the moment she found it best not to know where the man had taken her.

Isis heard a door being opened and she felt the chills down her spine. She heard voices from afar but she could not make out the words they were speaking, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to either. She felt a great relief when she felt the grip the man had around her wrist loosen. For a moment she almost thought that he was going to let go but he didn't.

"Only speak when you're spoken to," the man warned her, the tone in his voice still not changed from what it was before.

Isis just nodded, her eyes still closed.

Then the man's grip around her tightened a little, but only a little, and he dragged her forward by the wrist. Isis obediently followed.

As they walked further the voices fainted. They walked quite a distance but Isis had a felling that they were still in the same room. When they had reached a certain spot the man stopped walking and he released her wrist. "Bow," the man whispered to her.

Isis did as she was told.

There was a long silence in the room and Isis felt even more uncomfortable than she had felt before. Now she dared to open her eyes. She was looking down at a fine floor. It was dust free and looked almost completely clean, not the like the kitchen floor, which was always somewhat dirty. She didn't dare to look up to take a look at the surroundings. She was still afraid to disobey anyone.

A while later someone spoke.

"Mahad," the voice said, and Isis felt chills run down her spine. "Is this the girl you spoke of?"

Isis felt anger rise in her veins. That noble bastard had broken his promise and told someone about her so-called gift.

"Yes High Priest Aknadin," a gentle and soft voice said. Isis immediately recognized it as Mahad's voice and she felt even more betrayed.

"And are you absolutely certain that this servant has the powers that she claims to have?" the man, now identified as Aknadin, asked.

Mahad then began to tell the man about their encounter on their way to the dinning hall and the snake in the pot.

"Hm," Aknadin said, "so you think that her word is proof enough?"

"Yes," Mahad said.

"And how do you know that that girl did not put the snake there herself?"

Isis felt even more rage flow through her body. She would never do such a thing, if it wasn't for the fact that this was a High Priest she would like to give him some piece of mind, this was unlike her but his accusation had just made her so angry.

"My Lord," Mahad said, "I think I would have known if she was lying, I saw it in her eyes, she was telling the truth".

Isis felt a little better now, she was glad that Mahad was defending her.

"She is a servant, she works in the kitchen, we do not know anything about her, so how do we know if we can trust her? She may be a good actress and simply deceived you that day".

Isis felt the anger return, she had to clench her fists, how dared this man judge her like that? Priest or not he had no rights to say those things about her, she might have been a servant, but that didn't mean that she was a bad person.

"I saw it in her eyes, Aknadin," Mahad argued.

"Looks can be deceiving," Aknadin reminded him.

"Well instead of standing her arguing like this why not see for ourselves is she has the power that she claims to have?" a new voice, the voice of a woman, said.

Isis felt both relieved and nervous, she was glad that the court had stopped arguing about her but she was nervous for how they planned to make her prove her power.

Aknadin snorted. "Why would a mere servant possess such powers?"

"With all due respect Aknadin," the woman said, "are you suggesting that young Mahad spoke untrue? Or do you perhaps suggest that she somehow deceived him?"

"What is your point Meskhenet?" the High Priest asked the woman impatiently.

"Why do we not let Shimon have a look at her, instead of arguing over whether this girl is honest or not we let the key look into her mind".

"Why don't we let Menes give it a try with the scales instead?" Aknadin suggested.

"No," said Meskhenet, "there is no reason to put a young girl through that, now please Shimon".

Isis heard steps approach her and she really wanted to look up and see who was walking towards her but she thought that it would only make matters worse if she didn't bow.

Suddenly she felt a hand under her chin and she felt her head being forced upwards and she looked into a pair of big, round amber eyes. The man who was before her was short, perhaps around her height or maybe a little taller. He held an item of gold towards her head, the moment the cold metal touched her forehead, she thought she felt it glow and become hot. The next thing she felt was being completely empty and then the feeling disappeared and the man, who had been on his knees before her, rose to his full height and shook his head to the others. "The heart of this girl is pure, she is innocent and would not deceive young Mahad".

"Is that proof enough for you Aknadin?" asked Meskhenet, "or do you still think Menes should give it a try with his item?"

Aknadin sighed in defeat. "No I guess not, you can try the necklace on her".

"Maybe tomorrow," said Meskhenet, "I think the poor girl has had enough for one day".

Isis felt a pair of hands lock themselves around her wrists and she felt herself being forced back up on her feet. She allowed herself to glance up at the person who held her for a brief moment. She looked up and met the kind blue-green eyes of an older woman.

"Don't worry child," she said, "we will do you no harm".

Isis just nodded, not knowing what else to do.

"We will send for you tomorrow, now I suggest you go to sleep soon, some people tend to pass out after being judged by a millennium item".

Isis didn't know what a millennium item was but she did not have the courage to ask, she figured that she would be told anyway, eventually. She just nodded again.

"May I escort her?" asked Mahad.

There was an awkward silence in the room, it made Isis feel very uncomfortable, she didn't know if she was glad that Mahad offered to escort her or not.

"I do not see why you should not be allowed to escort her," said Meskhenet.

One of the men in the room looked like he was about to protest but he stayed silent.

"Thank you," said Mahad and he grabbed Isis's hand and followed her out of the throne room.

When they were a safe distance away Isis angrily pulled her hand out of Mahad's grip.

"Is something wrong?" the brunette asked her with worry in his ocean blue eyes.

"Why did you tell them?" she asked.

Mahad looked down at his feet with guilt displayed on his face. "I don't see any reason to hide your gift," he murmured.

"That doesn't give you any right to tell anyone," Isis said with an emotionless tone.

"I know, and I apologize for telling them, but I am not sorry though, you have a gift and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. As Meskhenet's apprentice you will learn to use your powers the best way and when she retires you will get to serve the Pharaoh as a Priestess and become his fortuneteller and help us protect Egypt with your knowledge".

Isis didn't say anything. She was digesting Mahad's words, thinking about what he had just said. It made sense. But she still hadn't forgiven him. He had promised her that her gift would remain a secret with him and now he had broken that promise to her.

"Please Isis, I mean no harm, but I don't want you to work in the kitchen for the rest of your life".

Isis looked at Mahad, who had now raised his gaze again to meet hers. His ocean blue eyes looked hurt.

"Why should I trust you, Mahad?" she asked coldly. "You broke the only promise you made me".

"I know Isis, and I know it was wrong of me but I did it for you, don't you want your powers to be acknowledged and put to good use? The court doesn't resent your gift as others did in the past, on the contrary actually, they are thrilled to discover that there is a person with a power like yours, they are not like those foolish villagers from your past, so please, don't throw away this opportunity".

Isis sighed. "You are right in many of the things you say Mahad," she said. "But I just feel betrayed".

Mahad lowered his gaze. "Is it really that bad?" he asked.

Isis nodded.

"There must be some way that I can make it up to you," the brunette said unhappily.

Isis smiled. "Be there for me, I'm sure my training will be hard, who knows what will happen? Who knows I might not even be accepted by the necklace…"

"You will," Mahad interrupted her happily. "And I promise, and this is a promise that I will keep, that I will help you through this, I owe it to you".

"Then you are forgiven," said Isis.

"Thank you," said Mahad.

They continued on their way to the kitchen.

"Mahad?" Isis asked suddenly after several minutes of silence.

"Yes?"

"What is a millennium item?"

"Oh," Mahad said in relief, having expected her to say something else like that she was afraid or something like that.

"Well the millennium items are seven in number, they are owned by the Pharaoh and his six guardians, and…"

* * *

_What do you think? Was it good? Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter._


	5. Important message

Hi again my dear readers, I'm sorry to say that this is not an update. I know it's been very,very long since I last updated and for that I am terribly sorry, I'm ashamed but I am currently suffering some writer's block. My life hasn't been going well lately so that's also why I haven't been in the mood to write but now I'm back I am going to rewrite this story because I've gotten an idea, or actually I am merging this story together with another Pleashipping story and in order to do that I am going to have to rewrite all the chapters so that they fit, I hope you'll like the new story and that you'll keep reading.

I'll put the new version of the story in a different storyfile and then I'll inform you here when it's up. I hope you'll like it and I also hope that it'll help em get the story finished sooner.

Until then have a nice summer :)

- Alda


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